


Poorly wired motherboard

by ollyee



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Android Lance (Voltron), Angst with a Happy Ending, Cyberpunk, I mean really slow burn, Innocent love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Platonic Kidge, Slow Burn, emperor zarkon is trying to take over the world again, getting the friend group back together, lots of fights and slice of life moments, pidge goes platonic for almost everyone, platonic plance, some elements of a dystopia, won’t have any nsfw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:07:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27207856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ollyee/pseuds/ollyee
Summary: Year 3677. After the big climat catastrophe only a handful of people survived and were gathered on the territory of our current United States (limiting to the territory of Utah and Nevada). At the same time it’s the biggest colony in the world, consisting of two cities: Naxzela and superior to it Daibazaal.Keith Kogane was born on Naxzela and since always has struggled to live out another day. One afternoon, while looking through industrial waste from Daibazaal on the junkyard, he stumbles upon a half-damaged android. In the hope of having a personal guard that could protect him from his enemies, Keith takes the android to his dearest friend Pidge and asks her to fix the android with a mysterious serial number: L4NC3.Lance wakes up without any memories and has to learn everything from scratch. Daily habits, living on Naxzela, fighting, the meaning of true friendship and even...love. Although Lance has his secrets as everyone here, but will he be able to overcome the ghosts of his dark past?Join Keith, Lance and Pidge in the complex story of their adventures, struggles and dope misssions!
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Kudos: 2





	Poorly wired motherboard

**Author's Note:**

> After whole days of writing, I’m finally posting the 1st chapter! I’ve had the idea of a really complex cyberpunk AU since more than a year now, but just now I’ve found the courage in myself to turn it into fanfiction. The deal is, english isn’t my first language, so I was afraid (and still am, actually) that because of that I’ll lack in words and my writing will become shallow and boring. I worked really hard on the plot and I know it has its depth in it, so I didn’t want to ruin it.  
>  That’s why, if someone notices any mistake, either in grammar or wrong use of a word, please tell me, so that I can improve my writing.  
> Anyways, I hope you’ll enjoy my story!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! To be honest, I've had an idea for a very complex cyberpunk AU since more than a year now, but just now I decided to finally turn my ideas into fanfiction. I know this fandom is slowly dying, but I hope that at least some people will like my fiction. Why was I waiting until today to write it? Well, english isn't my first language and despite understanding almost everything, writing something from scratch is a challenge for me. I was afraid (and still am, while posting it, actually) that because english isn't my first language, I'll lack in words and my writing will become shallow and boring. I don't want to turn this story into something boring, because I've worked really hard on the plot and I know it has its depth in it.
> 
> That's why, if you see any mistake, either in grammar or wrong use of a certain word, please tell me. I'm still learning and I want to make my writing enjoyable to people. I hope you'll love this story as much as I do.

He simultaneously tapped on the steering wheel, impatiently glancing at the red light above him, which prevented him from moving further. The streets around him were loaded with multiple vehicles, from regular scooters and cars, to specially modified motorcycles, which steadily moved up and down a few inches above the ground. There might have been many people around, but their direction was surely the same. The black-haired boy cursed in his head, wondering why the hell did he decide to ride into the district with the most heavy traffic at the rush hour.  
Olkarion, because that’s how they called the mentioned district, since always has been the biggest and the most technically advanced part of the metropolitan area, which consisted of Naxzela and superior to it - Daibazaal. Although, to be honest, technological development was a very relative term here. It was true that new inventions were made every single day, but compared to the miracles that happened in the Capital, things that were manufactured on Naxzela were only a poor substitute for the real technology of the Highest Gods.  
Keith looked up at the clear, blue sky, so that later his attention could be drawn to the enormous flying city many miles above Naxzela. The Capital. Or, in other words, Daibazaal. The most powerful, but at the same time the most mysterious city on the whole planet. Just the fact that it was **flying** , provided enough evidence of the technology they owned up there. Ironically, everyone on Naxzela knew hardly anything about that place, which theoretically controlled their whole lives. The only certain things were that all of the administration facilities were placed up there, including the home of almighty Emperor Zarkon and that all of its residents lived their best lives in splendor. The rest remained a mystery.

_“How nice of them that they thought of those who struggle to survive another day.”_ \- he thought and stepped on the gas pedal, overtaking those, who realised the light had changed not fast enough. He fastly overcompensated his lost time, skillfully maneuvering between other vehicles, while mumbling from time to time: “Sorry”, “Watch out” and “Move out of my way”. In less than fifteen minutes he drove all his way to the north side of Olkarion, where smaller and more humble buildings were situated. Keith took a few other turns and parked in front of a not-so-big, two-floor house with a red roof. He hopped out of his motorcycle and stood in front of the door with a big _“Green Lion Workshop''_ written on it. The boy hesitated for a while, wondering if he shouldn’t retreat and come here later, but his inner feeling pushed him into opening the door and stepping inside the nicely air-conditioned workshop. This place always made him feel better. Since originally being the house of Pidge’s parents, it was cozy and filled with good energy. Her parents passed away when she was at a very young age, but her brother Matt was there for her and took up upbringing her. After many years, they rearranged the ground floor into a workshop, which stayed the same up to this day. Wooden floor smelled like a warm summer night and the walls painted in bright-yellow only added more coziness to the whole. Right in front of Keith stood a small counter with prices listed underneath the tabletop. Of course there were many tools and project scraps as well, that were scattered behind the counter. There was also another room, entrance to which was covered by green beads. Pidge has created most of her inventions there and Keith has always wondered why his friend never agreed to finally clean up her working space.  
Speaking of Keith, he was immediately welcomed by a loud noise of someone throwing a wrench on the floor and a scream: “SHIT, FINALLY!”. Keith flinched and took a few steps forward.

“Uh, Pidge…? Is everything okay?”

The girl stuck her head out of her workshop, having all clothes covered in blue blood and grease oil. Her hair strands were tangled and she looked like she hasn't slept for days now.

“I might have come in bad timing…” Keith said, trying to back off.

“No, nononononono, come here.” Pidge encouraged him, pulling him to the room by his hand and staining it with grease.

Of course her main working space was as chaotically arranged as the tools lying behind the counter. Here were even more tools, blueprints lying on the shelves, two computers in the corner made by Pidge personally and a big working table in the middle of the room, currently covered with a white sheet. Pidge has set multiple devices around it and plugged many cables into them.

“Guess what.” Pidge swayed on her feet back and forward, smiling slightly, clearly proud of something she has done. Actually, her eyes sparkled with joy, despite the big, purple bags under them, caused by some major sleep deprivation.

“Is it about the android?”

Pidge nodded happily.

“Any progress with that?”

The red-haired girl squealed, as if she was to burst out of an excitement. “I’ve finished him!!”

“Already?!” Keith couldn’t believe his ears. Actually, this whole week was unbelievable for him. Four days ago, while he was looking through trash on the junkyard behind The Stacks, he stumbled upon a thing he has never dreamed of. A half-destroyed android from Daibazaal. The Capital has always tossed out their industrial waste down to Naxzela, but the fact that they’d decided to throw out an android remained and probably will remain a mystery for Keith forever. Of course he rushed to Pidge immediately, asking her to fix his finding. Having an android here on Naxzela would be a real privilege. But never would he have thought that Pidge was going to finish the whole project in several days.

“Yes!” she replied, taking her steps closer to the table. “Remember when I told you it’s probably a combat android?”

“Uh… Yeah, and what about that? It’s not, after all?” Keith raised his eyebrows, following Pidge’s steps.  
“No, it is a combat android, but not the RK400 one.” Pidge frowned. “I checked the serial number on his parts. Apparently it’s L4NC3. I’ve never seen such a serial number. It usually consists of two letters and three numbers. But it HAS to be a model from Daibazaal, no one has such technology down here.”

“Huh… Kinda sounds like ‘Lance’. An android with a name?” Keith pondered, stroking his chin.

“Yeah, I thought of the same thing! Plus, after an in-depth scan of his body, it turned out he’s been made of even stronger materials than standard combat androids. They usually use specially manufactured plastic, metal and carbon fiber, but in this case the used material is lonsdaleit, which is a very strong allotrope of carbon.” She explained, with her characteristic, scientific tone of voice. “But it doesn’t make much sense… If this model was meant for fighting and high durability, then why make him so detailed?

“Dunno. Maybe someone requested to make him on a commission.” Keith guessed. Pidge’s concerns were valid. That android might have been destroyed at the time when he’d found him, but his looks were really detailed. What really attracted attention was that his whole body had been covered in skin. And androids usually had skin only on their face and upper body. That one single thing raised multiple questions.

“I have no idea. But on the other hand, who would have commissioned such a powerful android? Oh, and also, I’ve reached out to some people so that I could find proper materials to fix him, but they’re still nothing compared to those from Daibazaal. So, just in case, watch out for his right leg and left arm, they’re more prone to damage.”

Keith took another step forward, getting more and more impatient to take off the sheet and check out the final outcome. Pidge wasn’t done with her talk, though.

“All those pieces don’t really match for me… I had to open up his head, so as to fix some damages and… Oh boi, I’ve never seen such a complex AI. He had many burned circuits in his brain, especially those responsible for memory and feelings. It’s likely they died because of some malfunction, but for me it looks like someone was tampering with them.”

“Seems kinda sus…”

Pidge nodded in agreement. “Right? I fixed them as much as I could, but I can’t assure you he’ll remember anything.”

“Well, we’re about to find out in a minute.”

The girl reached out to the white sheet covering her ‘masterpiece’ and pulled it down with a theatrical move. Earlier, Keith couldn’t believe his ears, when Pidge had said she fixed the android within a few days, but now, he couldn’t believe his eyes. The last time Keith's seen L4NC3, he was in terrible condition. He had losses in skin and hair, and lacked right leg and left arm. Maybe someone on Daibazaal needed them for some reason, who knows. Right now, every defect was fixed and Pidge has filled every part of his body with the exact same, caramel skin. Keith got closer, so as to have a second look on the android’s face. He noticed that Pidge had even added some tiny freckles on his face. It was like… a human-sized living doll. A masterpiece.  
Right now the droid was dressed up in Matt’s old clothes: a t-shirt with the iconic NASA logo, some loose grey pants and red, worn out Converse.

“W-Whoa, Pidge… I don’t know what to say… He really looks like a human.”

“I know I’m a genius, no need to emphasize that~”

“Pff- Modest as always.” Keith precariously touched the android’s skin and hair. It was smooth, almost like human’s. He wondered for a while how Pidge managed to find proper material for filling in the skin losses, but he dismissed that thought. Sometimes it’s better not to ask and he knew it from himself.

The black haired boy reached out to the droid’s back of the neck and slipped his finger into a small hole right next to the serial number. After waiting a few seconds, L4NC3 jerked suddenly. Keith flinched, surprised by that movement and backed for a couple of inches. The android started to slowly open his eyes, looking at the ceiling, clearly wanting them to accommodate properly. Just now Keith noticed, the eyes weren’t in the regular shade of blue. They were more like a combination of the color of an ocean, with some cyan and white glint. The android stretched out his arm before him and looked at it from every angle. He slowly sat up on the table and tilted his head to the left, where Keith and Pidge stood. His curious, big eyes silently examined those two strangers.

Keith blinked, realizing he’s caught a major lag. “H-Hi…?” He finally managed to say something. The droid backed off a little bit at the sound of his voice. Kogane decided to lower his tone, so as not to freak him out even more. “Don’t be afraid.”

“Who… a r e y o u ?” Those were the android’s first words. His voice was clear and warm. The thought of how dope that voice was glimpsed through Keith’s mind.

“Name’s Keith. I found you on the junkyard and she fixed you.” Here Keith pointed at Pidge, who waved gently her hand.

“I’m Pidge, nice to meet you.” She smiled widely. The android relaxed more, seeing that those two aren’t hostile towards him. He also raised his hand and waved back.

“And I am… Uh…” He went silent for a while, clearly trying to remind himself of his name, which should be pretty obvious to him. But everything he had in his mind right now was one, big void.

“Your serial number is L4NC3, right?” Keith wanted to assure himself.

“Uh… Yeah, I guess?”

“Register name: Lance.”

The android didn’t react. He only sat there, processing that weird command Keith had just said.

“La-nce?” He stammered.

“Are you sure his software isn’t damaged?” Keith turned himself to Pidge, crossing his arms with concern. It was only five minutes after turning on the android and he already seemed kinda confused and gave off weird vibes.

“His software wasn’t faulty at all, I checked everything twice.” Assured Pidge.

Keith sighed. “Yeah, your name is Lance. And you’re in Pidge’s workshop on Naxzela.”

Lance started looking around curiously. Nothing seemed familiar. Nothing, despite… “Naxzela? The city… down there?” He scratched his head in cogitation. He felt like he only remembered the basics, like how to build the sentences and that Naxzela was some sort of a city. But he didn’t remember who he was, what was the purpose of his creation and how on earth did he end up in this workshop. Lance hopped down from the table, so as to stretch out his legs.

“Piiidge, he’s taller than me.” Keith mumbled. “Did you do that on purpose, shithead?”

“Don’t look at me, it’s just how he was created. That’s the default height.”

Keith sighed again, observing what the android was up to. Right now, Lance was looking at his clothes, examining their fabric structure under his fingertips. Suddenly, he grabbed his shirt and pulled it really high, so that he could see what’s underneath it. Pidge snorted in uncontrollable laughter. To imagine your android just woke up and he’s already stripping.

Keith only raised his eyebrow and turned his head to Pidge with irritation painted on his face. “Okay, so now tell me how much did you ‘upgrade’ him.”

“What do you mean?” She answered with her well-trained innocent expression. “I didn’t tell him to take off his t-shirt.”

“I mean what he has **underneath** it.”

Hearing that they’re talking about him, Lance put his t-shirt back on and looked at Pidge with confusion.

“Do you really think I would have such materials to give him abs? Don’t make me laugh.”

“Well, I think that if you really wanted to, you’d find materials for many things.” Keith gave her a sharp look, lowering his voice in a warning. Pidge has always teased him about many things, no matter what they referred to. Thinking about it, they had to insult each other or have a little squabble at least once every time they saw each other.

The girl shrugged her shoulders. “It was like that from the beginning, leave me alone.”

“Lance, what are your functions?” Keith changed the subject, fully aware that he won’t win over Pidge.

“Functions?”

“Looks like his whole memory went blank.” Pidge wondered loudly.

“Yeah, but… Even the commands don’t seem to work. L4NC3, give me your registered name.”

The android looked even more confused now. He glimpsed at Keith and Pidge, trying to figure out if it was him who didn’t understand a thing or them. “But you just said my name was Lance?”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Okay, that will be hard. Lance, register your new owner. Keith Kogane. Uh, I mean me…”

The room went silent for a while. Everyone gave each other awkward looks and the fact that Lance was literally **staring** at Keith for this long made the black-haired boy feel very uncomfortable. The truth was, that poor android just didn’t understand why Keith has been talking to him in such a weird way.

“Keith Kogane.” Saying this, Lance pointed at the boy and then, moved his hand to the right. “Pidge.”

The girl smiled warmly again and vigorously nodded her head in confirmation. Such a shame Keith didn’t share her excitement. Right now he wanted to settle basic things with this android and not play around as some stupid nanny.

“You’re gonna be my guard. Mostly. You just have to fight with me and protect me from anyone that attacks me.” He stated.

“What do you mean by ‘fighting’, Keith?” Lance seemed pretty oblivious.

“Don’t tell me you don’t know what fighting is.” Keith snorted with laughter, but immediately went silent, when seeing the serious look on the android’s face. “Punching, shooting, kicking your opponent?”

Lance shook his head. “I can do other things if you’d like to.”

“ **What** kind of things?” The boy with a mullet slowly started to lose patience.

“I,um… Don’t know.”

“Pidge, can’t you do anything about that? I’m gonna go crazy if he doesn’t remember a single thing.”

“Sorry man, that’s beyond my abilities. Maybe he’ll remember something after a few days. When you’d mentioned Naxzela earlier, he knew it’s the city beneath Daibazaal.” She explained, glancing at Lance, who was currently on the other side of the workshop, playing with her screwdriver in his hands. From this perspective he almost looked like a lost child, who has just been discovering a new world. Well, it sort of applied to this situation.

“I hope so…” Keith sighed for the third time. He already had a feeling this android is gonna be a real pain in the neck. “Do androids even sleep?”

“They have to recharge themselves from time to time. But they’re way more prone to sleep deprivation than humans.”

“And how about eating?”

“Depends on the model. Theoretically speaking, combat androids aren’t equipped with a digesting system, but…” here she looked at Lance one more time “as we already know, he isn’t an ordinary android.”

Keith ran fingers through his hair. “Okay, thanks for everything, Pidge. Really. I’m gonna head home with him for now.”

“Sure, and I’ll finally get enough sleep. I’m literally dying.” She yawned and rubbed her tired eyes.

“Lance, come on. We’re going to my place.” Keith commanded and headed out to his red, shining motorcycle, not even checking out if the android was following him. Kogane sat on the front seat and turned on the engine. He loved his vehicle. It was a gift from Pidge and he’s cared for it ever since. Actually, it was one of Pidge’s first inventions, which she started working on many years ago. Then, she’s been enhancing it constantly, until the day when she finally gave him this beauty. “Lance, you coming or not?!”

At long last, the android came out of the workshop, approached Keith and sat behind him on the motorcycle.

“Hold tight. Unless you want to fall off and break down.”

“Then Pidge would fix me again.”

“Better not. Your components aren’t cheap.” With these words, Keith put gas on the highest setting and rode off in the direction of his house. It was weird for Keith, feeling as someone gripped his jacket from behind, hearing their breath, knowing that someone sits behind him. Meanwhile Lance didn't know where to look. He instantly forgot about Keith’s presence, fully amazed by his surroundings. Here, in northern Olkarion, where Pidge lived, weren’t many high-tech buildings, since they were placed nearer the centre, but it was still possible to see high office blocks from here. The android lifted his head up to the sky, focusing his attention on the enormous, intimidating city. Daibazaal.

“Home…” he mumbled. For now it was one of those few things he was sure of. He came from that place, it was where he’d been created. Although he had no idea how Daibazaal looked on the inside and what was his purpose of living there.

“Not anymore. You gotta get used to Naxzelan standards now.”

The further they were into the north, the poorer the buildings were. Most of them were small, with collapsing roofs and covered with mold. The road became bumpy, and the air suddenly became smoky, smelling like a combination of cheap cigarettes and burning rubber. Lance frowned a bit, curiously looking far to the front, where stretched many piles of something that looked like trash.

“Is this where you found me, Keith?” Lance asked, not being despised by that environment at all.

“No, I found you in the junkyard. Those are the slums, also called ‘The Stacks’.” Keith answered with a tired voice. “That’s where I live.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you, Keith.”

“You didn’t. That hovel is terrible.”

As they got even closer to The Stacks, Lance noticed that they actually were small industrial containers or caravans, weakly stacked on each other, one by one. And there were literally hundreds of them. All of the constructions looked as if they were to collapse at any moment, but for some reason they still stood on the ground. Now, there even hasn’t been any road at all, only some dirt and mud. Lance’s ears have been suddenly attacked by the constant buzz coming from the background. Old people, the homeless, junkies, hoodlums and even small children, everyone from the margins of society were here, living their regular life. Some of them were trying to sell some suspicious stuff, while the others were chatting or just lying fully drunk on the ground. A little girl, about the age of 7 attracted Lance’s attention. She was dressed up in some ripped, filthy sheet, currently playing in a dirty puddle. Her collarbones were explicitly showing, pale skin standing out. She looked as if she hadn’t been eating for days now. Lance gave her a worried look, but she only stuck her tongue out in his direction and ran away, splattering the mud around.

Keith flew up with his motorcycle and parked it on a big platform about thirty feet above the ground. His house was small, made from an old caravan and steel sheets. The black-haired boy turned off the engine and opened the door with an old, rusted key. Lance stepped into the nicely dimmed interior and stood in the middle of the room, slowly getting to know this place. Despite the fact that it was located in the slums, it was rather cozy and clean. Right in front of him was a big, scratched window, which was oriented west. Now, it was half covered by a sheer curtain. Underneath it laid a mattress, covered with a red blanket, two pillows and black bed sheets. Beside the left wall, in front of the mattress, stood an old, thick TV, along with a VHS player and a CD player. The floor around the little cabinet standing next to them was covered with piles of CDs and all kinds of books: from fantasy and horror, to the psychological ones and those with many illustrations, meant especially for kids. In the corner stood an electric guitar, although any amplifier was nowhere to be found. More to the left, in a niche, there was a kitchen, which consisted of a countertop with a microwave on it and a stove with one burner. Beneath were three lockers in a colour of rotten green and right next to them stood a folding field table with two chairs. Behind Lance, on the right side of the wall was a tiny bathroom with a toilet and a shower.

“Lance, register location: home.” Commanded Keith as he took off his shoes and sat on the mattress.

“You don’t have to talk to me like that, Keith. I can understand what you’re talking to me.”

“Yeah, right, whatever…” Kogane rolled his eyes and put his arms behind his neck so as to relax a bit.

“Is there anything you need me to do right now, Keith?”

“Nah, you can look around or something. But there’s actually nothing interesting about my stuff.” Keith waved his hand, only wanting a while for himself now. Come to think of it, despite being such an advanced AI, the way Lance talked, still kinda implied that he was just a machine. Especially the way he repeated Keith’s name at the end of each sentence. The boy closed his eyes, embracing this lovely moment of silence. Just as if Lance wasn't here.

The android, in the meantime, focused on a small box standing on the table. It was made of plastic, duck-taped in a few places and with visible signs of frequent repairs. Lance touched a knob situated in front of it and turned it to the right, flinching at a sudden sound of music.

Keith reluctantly opened his eyes. “What are you doing? Have you never seen a radio?” He asked.

Lance shook his head. “Not in this form.”

“Well, uh… You might have a point, it’s an old one. Prewar.”

But Lance seemed to not be listening to Keith anymore. He was playing with the radio knob, constantly changing channels. Kogane observed him attentively, wondering how much effort had to be taken to create such a complex machine as an android.

“You’re a really curious android.” Keith noticed.

“Maybe that’s how they programmed me to be.” Lance mumbled, still occupied with the radio. “Is that weird?”

“A little.”

Keith stood up and took his steps to the kitchen. The android finally set the radio to one channel, currently quietly playing ‘Mr. Blue Sky’. Keith rummaged through the cabinets and pulled out two cans of synthetical soup. The label said it was supposed to be a chicken soup, but he knew from experience to never trust what labels of such cheap products say.

“Are you hungry?”

“Yeah, sure.Do you have chocolate?”

Keith froze for a moment. “...say what now.”

“I asked if you have chocolate.” Lance answered calmly, with a serious look on his face. For him it was a totally normal question, nothing weird. He didn’t know why he’d thought of chocolate, but something was telling him that he had to eat it somewhere earlier.

“Uh, no?” Keith chuckled. “Do you have automatically programmed jokes or something like that?”

To his horror, Lance still looked deadly serious.

“Do I look like I have money for such a luxurious product?!” He snapped, losing his patience.

“I don’t understand why you’re raising your voice, Keith.” Lance’s voice remained calm.

“Listen, I don’t know what you were eating on Daibazaal, but this is Naxzela. I only have those.” He shook the cans with soup.

Lance repeated himself in mind to never ever assume again that Keith has chocolate and reached out for the can.

“Wait, I have to warm that up fir-” He didn’t even finish the sentence, because Lance has already been drinking the cold soup straight from the can without even batting an eye. “...okay, so I’m gonna do that only for myself.”

“Tasty.” He said, crushing the empty can with one hand. He might have forgotten about fighting, but sure had lots of strength in him.

“You can determine what tastes good and what doesn’t?” Keith took out his soup from the microwave and sat beside the table, in front of Lance. The mere fact that he liked this shitty swill was surprising enough.

“Why couldn’t I?”

Keith only shrugged his shoulders and started to eat his meal. The taste of it was terrible, but after years of feeding himself with that shit, he got used to it.

“Why do I have to protect you, Keith?” Lance broke the silence. Damn, this android was pretty nosy.

“I have a bone to pick with some nasty guys. They aren’t that type of people who you wanna mess up with.”

“Why?”

“Let’s say I’ve made a few bad decisions in my life. That’s all.”

“You live alone?” Lance changed the subject.

“Not anymore.”

“No?” Keith turned his head to the android and gave him his usual ‘What the hell, dude’ look. “Oh, right” He reflected.

“Jeez, are you always so absent-minded?” Keith got irritated again.

“I don’t know. But I guess not. Sorry if I’m annoying you.”

“Yeah, you do annoy me a bit. Even more than a bit.”

“I’m sorry, Keith.”

“Just- Just be quiet and don’t disturb me. I’m gonna read a book now. I suggest you do the same.” With these words, Keith went back on his mattress and opened a thick fantasy book. Lance looked at him for a while and sat on the floor, starting to rummage through piles of books. His attention was drawn by the one with a castle and a princess drawn on the cover. The android took it into his hands and examined precisely. It was one of those few children's books that for some reason Keith was in a possession of. Lance started to podner, while looking through colourful and nicely drawn pictures inside. The mere fact that as an android he’s been created for some reason, but he didn’t even remember it, frustrated him even more than being in a foreign place, with well, basically strangers.

_My name is Lance. I am from Daibazaal, but for some reason I ended up on the junkyard, where Keith had found me and took to Pidge, who fixed me. I was created to…_

He reached a dead end. Nothingness. The void inside his head. It was like he had that on the tip of his tongue, but couldn’t catch that thought. Lance sighed quietly, going back to looking at the illustrations. He didn’t even notice when the time had passed, while he was staring for an hour at a single drawing. Androids perceived the flow of time differently than humans.  
Lance finally raised his head up, when the lighting in the room started to change. He closed the book and looked outside the window, at the weak rays of sunshine bursting into the room.

“It’s pretty.” He said.

Keith got away from his reading and looked at Lance. “Ah, the sunset. One of the few beautiful things you can see down here.”

“Why?”

“Just look around you. This world is filled up with poverty and madness. Especially The Stacks.”

“Other parts of the city are like that too?”

The boy shrugged his shoulders. “Naxzela is basically built on trash. The rich ones are trying to live with a delusion of sufficiency. Our city may be divided, but all of us share the same sky, even those on Daibazaal. Just looking up at it is enough to notice that filthy, turbid air and all bubbles eventually burst.”

Lance gave that thing a thought. “But you still can focus on other things.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you could focus on those ‘better’ aspects of living? There have to be some.” He looked out of the window again with a slight smile. “For example the sunset.”

“Eulogizing over such ordinary things is pretty cheesy for me. It doesn’t speak to me.”

“I...see…” Lance decided it’s better to stay silent. Keith obviously didn’t share his opinion and he didn’t want to annoy him even more. He was his owner, after all.

“You’ll have to go and wash yourself. I know Pidge has cleaned you, but it’s better if you take a shower.” Keith said, after a while of silence.

Lance shook his head. “I don’t have to, I’m just an android. I don’t mind being dirty.”

“But I do mind. It’s my house and those are my rules.”

“...sorry.”

“Just go already.”

A bit embarrassed, Lance stood up from the floor and went to the bathroom. Now, he could look at the small room even closer. It didn’t have any door and it was hard to even move in there freely. The shower only had a curtain to cover up, that was all. Just now Lance noticed a small mirror on the left. He moved closer, staring at his reflection. Again, time passed faster than he even knew.

Keith interrupted his deep thought. “Have you never seen yourself in a mirror?”

“No. Is it really me?” The android touched his cheeks and rubbed them. To his surprise, the reflection did exactly the same.

_Weird._ \- Keith thought.

After staring in the mirror for ten minutes, Lance moved himself on and started to take off his clothes so as to take a shower. Because the bathroom didn’t have a door, Keith more or less accidentally caught a glimpse of the android’s naked body.

“........hold on.” He said to himself. Kogane instantly gripped his phone and furiously dialed a number, while Lance was busy showering himself.

“Funeral home _‘Green Lion’,_ what can I do for ya?” Pidge greeted him on the other side of the phone.

“Pidge, **what the actual fuck**.” He hissed through his teeth.

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“Lance is currently showering himself.”

“Uh, well, congrats for him?”

“I saw him naked, you jerk. It’s a combat android or some sort of a brothel missy?” Keith was furious.

“But why are you asking me? I didn’t do anything.” Pidge used her innocent tone of voice yet once again this day.

“Bullshit. I don’t believe you. If you’re so horny, then make yourself such an android or some shit.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold your horses, Mr. _‘I’m living in an eternal celibate.’_ I had to fix him and I completed the task. In my own way~” Keith could literally **hear** in her voice that devilish smirk she had on her face right now.

“You little-”

“Yo, that was for scientific purposes. Don’t close that curiosity door for me.”

“But don’t use my android for your stupid experiments!!” Right now, Keith was standing and screaming to his phone from a distance of a few inches, but Pidge still heard how loud his voice was.

“Does it really bother you that much? I mean, he wears clothes? Unless…” Pidge started to laugh.

“Don’t you dare to finish-”

“I see, so I got one hell of a job done, huh? I won’t lie, you really flatter me right now.”

“What- Oh come on, give it a break already!”

“Well, I hope you two get along well. Bye-byee~” And then she ended the call without even waiting for an answer. Keith threw his phone on the mattress and kicked the chair. Why has Pidge always had to stick her nose into his business? One day she got some ideas that he might be gay and has been tormenting him with it ever since. He really liked Pidge, but that aspect about her was really annoying. Keith sighed and opened his wooden chest, where he kept unused stuff, looking for some clothes he could give to Lance as pajamas. While rummaging through it, he stumbled upon a certain pile of clothes…

_Actually, he’s higher than me, so he should wear something bigger._

He pulled out that t-shirt along with some shorts and went to the bathroom, where Lance had already been out of the shower and, for Keith’s relief: covered with a towel. He tossed him the clothes.

“You can sleep in that. But watch out for that t-shirt, it belonged to…” he hesitated “...actually, it doesn’t matter who it belonged to, just don’t destroy it.”

***

“Not gonna sleep tonight?” Keith asked, already in his bed, reaching out to turn off the night light beside his mattress. 

“Maybe later. I’m not tired yet.” Lance was currently sitting on one of the chairs in the kitchen.

“You’ll sit the whole night on that chair? Don’t you need at least a blanket?”

The android shook his head. The truth was he just wanted to be polite and don’t be a bother to Keith. He didn’t need much sleep and the chair wasn’t that uncomfortable, so he decided to sleep here today. He didn’t even think of taking half of the mattress from Keith.

“As you wish. Goodnight.” Keith said and turned off the lights, falling asleep almost immediately.  
  
Lance was left alone in the darkness. He started to analyze every moment from this day. As an android, he was able to remember every sentence and every detail he’s ever seen, so for him it was like replaying the whole day in his mind. Keith was his owner and Pidge fixed him. Both of them seemed really nice, although Kogane was more likely to have mood swings, as Lance had already noticed. It was kinda funny how he got the chance to start a new life down here, with a totally clean slate. A chance? Or more like a curse? It was just the first day of his new life, but he already was concerned about so many things. Wait, but was an android even capable of thoughts like that?  
  
Lance glanced at Keith, seeing only his silhouette in darkness. After some time of watching him sleep, the android’s mind started to get tired as well. Finally, Lance closed his eyes and let himself slip into the arms of Morpheus.

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
